Winter
comes out of hibernationITD
crews pressed into overtime to keep highways open

Winter
returned to Idaho in December and it’s been vastly different than
the conditions motorists grew accustomed to the past few years. The
first snowfall in northern and eastern Idaho did not provide a hint
of what was to come.

December
gave way to January and ordinary gave way to extraordinary.

Avalanches
beset Idaho’s highways… among them U.S. 12, U.S. 89, U.S.
95, Idaho 21 and Idaho 55. Snow blankets the mountain passes, agricultural
fields and plateaus. Relentless wind shifts the snow like desert sands,
but instead of rolling dunes, there are fingers of snowdrifts defying
traditional plows.

And
from border to border highways are filled with motorists who want to
move from where they are to where they want to go with the least amount
of interruption and inconvenience.

“Winter”
and “travel” become adversaries. ITD maintenance crews serve
as the intermediary, the link that enables travel, despite winter.

Snowplow
operators know the meaning of sacrifice. Days away from family. 12 to
15-hour shifts. Roadside pullouts for cold coffee and a quick sandwich.
Stubborn highways that drift shut as soon as the plow passes through.
Blizzards rob them of visibility. Tired, cold, over-worked equipment
refuses to cooperate. Conditions conspire to complicate their lives.

It
is winter again in Idaho.

“We
haven’t seen these kinds of conditions in at least 10 years,”
says ITD Director Pam Lowe. “In some areas, like District 1, snowfall
is of record proportions. Despite all of the conditions that seem to
be working against us, people generally are able to reach their destination.

“That
is no accident. The transportation department is blessed with a multitude
of dedicated maintenance workers who put aside personal comforts, time
with family and their own commitments to plow our highways and apply
sand and deicer,” Lowe adds. “Our maintenance crews work
long shifts and get precious little sleep. Their job is physically and
mentally exhausting. Too often it’s taken for granted.”

Yet,
they press on.

“On
behalf of the transportation board, the department and the citizens
of Idaho, I want to express how grateful I am for their sacrifices,”
Lowe says. “They have done an incredible job this winter, and
we’re all safer for their efforts.”

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Photos:
Shoshone County Sheriff and his patrol vehicle are dwarfed
by snow along Idaho 4 in northern Idaho (top); the highway has become
nearly a tunnel in the snow (bottom).